In this institute, K–12 teachers, in conjunction with a group of leading scholars and public historians, will explore a neglected but crucially important aspect of early American history—the two-and-a-half-century web of connections between the rise of New England as a commercial and industrial center and the enslavement of Africans. New England's extensive and complicated relationship with slavery is a crucial part of the American story that almost never is clearly and comprehensively discussed in American history textbooks. But this is an important story, and there is no better place to explore it, and learn how to teach about it, than in Rhode Island, not only the center of the American slave and provisioning trades, but also the birthplace of the American industrial revolution. The two-week institute will include lectures by experts, tours of historic sites associated with these key developments, and guided explorations of original 18th- and 19th-century print and graphic sources that document this fascinating, often painful history. Teachers will be able to bring back to their classrooms and departments new knowledge, new primary documents and images, and fresh ideas and strategies for teaching this sensitive material, including shared lesson plans.

The Gilder Lehrman Summer Seminars are designed to strengthen participants' commitment to high quality history teaching. Public, parochial, independent school teachers, and National Park Service rangers are eligible. These week-long seminars provide intellectual stimulation and a collaborative context for developing practical resources and strategies to take back to the classroom.

Participants in this program will learn to integrate field research activities into their classroom curricula using the Schoodic Education Adventure program. The two-day institute investigates opportunities to collect field data, apply it to classroom lessons across the curricula, and connect it to real world applications in America's national parks.

Participants will create schoolyard investigation kits to take back to their classrooms; be introduced to outdoor, field-based activities that can be reproduced in a number of settings; learn classroom-based activities relating to science, social studies, technology, math, language arts, small group communication, public speaking, art, health, and citizenship; use GPS units and computers to create digital maps of study sites; qualify for student scholarships and transportation assistance to take your students to the Schoodic Education Adventure program.

Workshop activities highlight studying forest community structure, marine biodiversity, geology, soil development, and New England history.

Participants in this program will learn to integrate field research activities into their classroom curricula using the Schoodic Education Adventure program. The two-day institute investigates opportunities to collect field data, apply it to classroom lessons across the curricula, and connect it to real world applications in America's national parks.

Participants will create schoolyard investigation kits to take back to their classrooms; be introduced to outdoor, field-based activities that can be reproduced in a number of settings; learn classroom-based activities relating to science, social studies, technology, math, language arts, small group communication, public speaking, art, health, and citizenship; use GPS units and computers to create digital maps of study sites; and qualify for student scholarships and transportation assistance to take their students to the Schoodic Education Adventure program.

Workshop activities highlight studying forest community structure, marine biodiversity, geology, soil development, and New England history.

Participants in this workshop will travel throughout the Delta as they visit sites where significant events occurred. They will discuss and learn about issues involving civil rights and political leadership, immigrants' experiences in the Delta, the Blues, the great migration, agriculture, and the Mississippi River, among other things. They will sample Delta foods, visit local museums, and listen to the Blues. Field trips will roam as far as Greenville, Greenwood, and Memphis, with stops in between.

What do an English historian, an Italian wine merchant, an anti-slavery advocate, and the Father of the Constitution have in common? Each of these individuals—Catherine Sawbridge Macaulay Graham, Philip Mazzei, Francis Asbury, and James Madison—paid one or more visits during the years 1783–1789 to the retired leader of the American Revolutionary forces, George Washington, at his Virginia waterfront plantation, Mount Vernon. Perhaps these guests marveled at the brilliant colors of the mansion's main dining room. They might have strolled around the grounds and seen the slaves performing the multitude of tasks necessary to make the plantation flourish. It's likely that the visitors sat on the east-facing piazza and watched the ships sail up and down the Potomac River. Finally, and most significantly, these visitors—and others like them—participated in dialogues and discussions at Mount Vernon which resulted in the creation of the American constitutional system. The Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop, "Shaping the Constitution: A View from Mount Vernon 1783–89," funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities We the People initiative, is an opportunity for educators (and ultimately their students) to gain a better understanding of Mount Vernon as a crossroads for the discussion of ideas that led to the Constitution. In brief, the workshop offers academic content about Mount Vernon, George Washington, and the Constitution; the opportunity to engage in scholarly discourse with leading academics; a stipend to help cover housing and meal costs; a transportation allowance; networking with other social studies teachers from around the nation; and ongoing professional development opportunities and the opportunity to earn graduate credit.